A Q&A with the Kirbys and their team, on terroir, technique, and what’s next for their growing Niagara winery
The owners of Kirby Estate Wines, Scott and Maria Kirby, were looking to retire somewhere beautiful and quiet. They found a property in Niagara with an existing vineyard, fruit and nut trees, bordered by woodland and a meandering creek that called their name. They instantly knew this was “their little piece of Eden”.
After extensive refurbishment to the house and to the landscaping, they sat back and said, “This place deserves to have wine!”
Located in the Niagara Lakeshore sub-appellation, the 17.5 acre property (of which 11 acres are under vine) is uniquely situated. It’s a terroir with special qualities and microclimates on gentle slopes, planted with chardonnay, pinot blanc, gamay noir, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot and merlot.
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At first the Kirbys farmed the vineyard and sold their grapes to other winemakers and wineries, and they still do to a select few. But little by little they realized the potential of the terroir. So, they surrounded themselves with sage advisors like Peter Gamble, Craig Wismer, Adam Lowy (owner of Cloudsley Cellars) and rising young star-winemaker Matt Smith – recipient of the 2024 Paul Pender Memorial Award.
There is an old saying that it takes a village to raise a child; well, it takes a dedicated and talented team to craft fine wine.
Scott and Maria Kirby – owners of Kirby Estate Wines, in Niagara, Ontario.
I sat with Scott and Maria Kirby, winemaker Matt Smith, and vineyard manager Craig Wismer, to talk about Kirby Estate and taste through their wine portfolio:
VR: The beauty of the property is obvious, but what makes this terroir unique and well suited to producing premium wines?
Scott: We’re coming up on owning the vineyard for eight years now. It’s been a pretty steep learning curve, and we feel a sense of responsibility to the land, to the vineyard. Obviously these two gentlemen [Matt and Craig] are pros, and they have that sense of responsibility, too, because the terroir is capable and has the potential for these wonderful wines. We’ve done well enough that people are saying, “You guys are doing pretty good!” We’re a close-knit team trying to run a premium viticultural and winemaking program.
Maria: I remember this one guy, who was a renter here, came back after two or three years and said the vineyard has never looked as good. That shows you something about the farm manager and team here.
Craig: I told you from day one, you started with a good site, right? And do you remember the first time you [to Scott] asked me if you could drop fruit? I said,”There’s an old saying in farming that there’s no better fertilizer than the owner’s footsteps.” I’m just saying you gotta be in the field, it makes a difference.
Kirby Estate.
VR: Your current production is around 500 cases. Are you looking to scale that up?
Scott: The small production is by choice. We are trying to manage ourselves conservatively. We could produce many, many more cases of wine, but we choose to sell fruit to other like-minded winemakers. I call it co-branding. It’s comparable to the business model employed by Five Rows. The Lowries are pretty successful with keeping a limited amount for their premium wines and selling the rest of the fruit to people serious about winemaking.
Craig: Similarly, some of our fruit is sold off which is a reduction in tonnage, but the crop is still managed as a whole to be less than what it could be. We have some very beautiful fertile soils here, so the crop level probably could be double. What we actually grow is an intentional decision, we’re seeking out the highest quality fruit as opposed to higher yields.
Winemaker Matt Smith.
VR: With previous vintages, the focus has been on merlot, gamay (co-branded with Thomas Bachelder) and chardonnay. But as of 2023 you’ve added a pinot blanc to your portfolio of wines. Can you tell us more about that decision and the winemaking process?
Scott: The pinot blanc comes from a block planted in 1996. It’s an unusual block as it runs east-west with different sunlight exposures. Between 2017 and 2021, we sold all those grapes to Adamo Estate Winery for their Pét Nat. But in 2022, after a brutal winter event, we had a very low yield, so we decided to keep the grapes and make sparkling wine ourselves. (That wine is in tirage right now.) Then in 2023 we decided to do some still wine. I like this wine a lot and we’ve had phenomenal feedback from winemakers and the general public. This is the star of our line-up now.
Matt: We kind of wanted to make a wine styled after Alto Adige but we had no timeline for the élevage – I think we landed on nine months in barrel and we made that decision seven months in. We used one new oak barrel, some second fill and one neutral for that subtle oak impact. We treated it very much like chardonnay, settled it cold no more than 24 hours, in with a bit of fluffy lees, racked and then let her go. It’s wild ferment and we kept it in the low 20s [Celsius] because we did not want it to be super fruity, then followed by wild malo [malolactic conversion]. We don’t do any stirring [of lees] so it’s made in a reductive style.
Craig: I just want to add that this was largely experimental. There is not a lot of pinot blanc made in Niagara so when we first started talking about it, there wasn’t a road map to follow. But it’s been a really pleasant surprise.
Scott: I think we know where we are with merlot and chardonnay. But the whole strategy behind pinot blanc for us is still a work in progress. We were talking soils before and the exposure to north and south of the rows of pinot blanc. We have transitional, free-draining soils, silty clays, very sedimentary but there is complexity in that block [of pinot blanc] particularly and I think you find the complexity in the deeper nose [of the wine] as well. You get riper fruit on the south side of the rows and less ripe, more acidic fruit on the north side, so it makes for an interesting combination for this lovely wine.
Vineyard Manager Craig Wismer.
VR: You mentioned merlot and chardonnay, perhaps the two pillars of Kirby Estate for now. You have three tiers: Estate, Reserve and Signature. Do you make all three every vintage? Could you elaborate on the style of these wines?
Scott: There is a difference in the percentage of new oak between the Reserve and the Estate, with about 35 percent new oak for the former and 25 percent new oak for the latter.
Matt: When we do our blending, we taste all our barrels and then we rate them. Some barrels stand out, so in 2021 we made the Reserve first and then we did the Estate. I mean both are good but I can tell the difference between the two. The Reserve has a little bit more texture, more intensity and power compared to the Estate.
Everyone always speaks about how 2020 was a great vintage. It was for sure a warmer vintage with no disease pressure, but we were in the vineyard on a daily basis tasting berries to see when we should pick. I don’t want chardonnay to be big and boozy, I much rather have freshness and balance. So, with the Estate Chardonnay, we definitely picked on the early side to maintain some of that freshness but there’s noticeably more fruit.
My first crack at making the Estate Merlot was in 2018 and we made just two barrels. There’s a lot of merlot made that is really over extracted. I lean more to the elegant style of merlot, so I made it more in a pinot [noir] style except for 2020 which obviously was a big year. On the 2021, the tannin structure is generally a lot softer and it gained some concentration with barrel ageing. I am quite happy how this wine turned out.
In 2020, we knew we had some exceptional merlot with some really stand-out barrels. We were going through our blending and tasting all the barrels and we’re like ‘we need to do something bigger than the Reserve’. So, we created the Signature; it’s super concentrated with the fruit really prominent on the nose and more spice. The Signature Merlot is also unfiltered.
Craig: And it’s also ‘custom’ because we’re not going make a Reserve every year. It depends on the barrel and not every season calls for it. The 2021 season was actually pretty phenomenal; it was a really good growing season. It’s just if you had late ripening varieties that you got hit with pretty constant rain in October. We were fortunate to get the fruit off the vines before the rain.
Tasting the wines of Kirby Estate.
VR: What are some plans for the future at Kirby Estate? (Note: Currently the wines are made at Cloudsley Cellars, however, plans are in place to renovate an existing barn on the Kirby Estate into a production facility and tasting room. Wine tastings are by appointment only for now.)
Scott: We replanted some blocks of the vineyard in 2023 with cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot, so we are looking forward to having them come into production soon. Matt intends to ferment each separately. The vintage will dictate the percentage of each variety to go into a final blend with the merlot.
We are proud of the wines produced here and think we’re adding to the reputation of Niagara wines. It’s not that Kirby Estate will make Niagara famous but it’s all the boutique wineries combined, doing what we’re doing [by making high quality wines], that is putting Niagara on the map.
Kirby Estate wines tasted (available at kirbyestate.com):
Kirby Estate white wines tasted.
Pinot Blanc, Estate 2023
This is an easy drinking wine sourced from 27 year old vines grown on sandy loam transitioning to silty clay soils. Spontaneous fermentation, full malo and 9 month maturation in 20% new, second fill and neutral French oak barrels has resulted in a lovely mouthfeel and creamy texture. Aromas are delicate with floral notes, lemon curd and a touch of vanilla. The palate offers up citrus, peach, subtle oak spice with a saline finish. This wine is deserving of attention not only for being the newest member of the Kirby portfolio, or for being a rather rare variety in Niagara, but because it’s delicious. ($35)
Chardonnay, Estate 2020
From an exceptional Niagara vintage, this wine had 20 months of élevage in a combination of new and neutral oak. A fine bouquet of ripe apple, pear, citrus and butterscotch compliment the richly textured palate recalling the same fruit characteristics, well-integrated oak spice and saline minerality. A beautifully balanced wine. ($60)
Chardonnay, Reserve 2021
The 2021 vintage had very good growing conditions with rain at harvest, but the fruit for this wine was hand-picked ahead of the wet weather. This Reserve wine is a selection of the best barrels and has a creamier texture, more fruit intensity and power than the 2021 Estate Chardonnay. Aromas and flavours of citrus, pear, quince, guava and oak spice progress to a long, flinty finish. An elegant wine. ($65)
Kirby Estate red wines tasted.
Merlot, Estate 2021
Handpicked fruit from 19 year-old vines, fermented with wild yeast in stainless steel tanks, and then aged in French oak (33% new) for 18 months. The nose entices with black cherry, blackberry, plum, anise and clove. The palate is soft, earthy, mingled with black currant, plum, cherry and subtle spice. Medium bodied, fresh, with tannins that are still young and slightly green. This wine is a lovely expression of Niagara merlot ‘typicity’. ($60)
Merlot, Reserve 2020
Niagara’s stellar vintage produced perfectly ripe merlot fruit that was hand harvested in 2 picks, 2 weeks apart (at 23 Brix and 25 Brix). Wild yeast fermented and aged 20 months in new and neutral French oak, this is a deeply hued wine. The nose is perfumed with violets, black raspberry, plum, vanilla and cedar. The palate is rich and layered with black raspberry, plum, vanilla, and subtle oak spice. Firm but plush tannins provide structure and at 14.5% abv, the alcohol is well integrated. A beguiling wine. ($80)
Merlot, Signature 2020
Take all the 2020 Reserve Merlot descriptors and turn them up a notch. The Signature is richer, more concentrated, more powerful (15.7% abv). Aromas include Kirsch cherry, plum, pencil shavings, clove and violets. The palate is dense, brooding, with red berried fruit, plum, anise, and pronounced spice notes. The tannins are ripe with a velvet texture and the finish is extra long. As Scott Kirby said, “It’s a meal in itself.” ($108)
